2018 Cross Country

The 2018 Cross Country season saw Seaford LAC represented at all Region and State events during the Winter.

23 Seaford athletes took to the course at Ballam Park for the Region Championships with all qualifying through for State. U/11 Ben stamped his authority on distance running with an individual gold medal on the day. Team medals also made their way to Seaford with the U/11 Boys (Ben Hayes, Bailey Kalogerinis, Shaun Laird) taking silver while the U/12 girls (Mali Goggin, Shkyiah Upson, Emily Smith) took home bronze. The U/14 boys (Ethan Buchanan, Hayden Dyball, Lachlan Smith) came out on top with a Gold team medal.

Seaford teams took on both relay days with 8 teams competing at the inaugural Cross Country relays at Cruden Farm and 5 teams backing up for the Road Relays at Sandown. All athletes did our Centre proud with strong performances, good sportsmanship and plenty of team spirit.

Seaford Little Athletics have finished the Region and State Cross Country season on a high with 15 athletes making the journey to Lake Dewar, Myrniong for the State Championships. The new venue produced superb conditions, a picturesque backdrop and plenty of challenges. Congratulations to U/11 Ben for his bronze medal achievement in his age group's 2000m event. Well done to all the Seaford athletes for their individual performances.

State Track & Field Championships

Seaford Little Athletics have capped off a highly successful Track & Field season with a memorable State Championships. The Centre produced their highest medal tally in the Club’s history bringing home 5 gold medals, 2 silver and 2 bronze. Seaford placed 18th overall on the medal tally out of 89 competing Centres from across Victoria. Plenty of Personal Bests and top 10 placings were a fabulous reward for the 19 athletes representing Seaford LAC.

U/9 athlete Tessa Symonds claimed the first medal for Seaford with a gold medal performance in the Shot Put. Older sister Elli Symonds joined her younger sibling in the medal tally when she added 3 gold medals to the Seaford collection. Elli triumphed in first place in the U/11 60m Hurdles, Long Jump and Triple Jump and also contested the 100m where she finished 11th.

The race walk events proved a highlight for the Seaford team with 2 bronze medals achieved. U/11 Alannah Upson secured a bronze in the 1100m walk while U/9 Harli Lennon claimed her first State medal with a third placing in the 700m walk. The 1500m walks saw top 10 positions achieved by U/15 Alex Hayes (7th) and U/12 duo Emily Smith (9th) and Shannon Delaney (5th). ). U/11 Aiden Smith finished 15th in the 1100m walk and U/9 Patrick Staines finished 8th in the 700m walk.

U/9 Harli continued success at the Championship with a 6th place in High Jump before adding a silver medal in the Long Jump and a coveted gold medal in the 60m Hurdles. U/11 Ben Hayes placed 11th in the 800m and backed up day 2 with a Silver medal in the 1500m. U/12 Erich Holohan contested the 60m Hurdles with a 9th placing, narrowly missing the final. U/15 Justin Ott produced a 14th placing in Triple Jump and 16th in the Javelin while U/15 Elyssia Tallon Rosas claimed 12th in Triple Jump. U/15 Benjamin Delaney achieved 11th place in the 100m Hurdles and 13th place in Shot Put just behind team mate Jacob Barry who placed 8th in the Shot Put. Jacob also placed 11th in the Long Jump. U/15 Maddison Staines completed the Centre’s field results with a 12th placing in the Shot Put.

On the track, U/14 Ethan Buchanan recorded 16th position in the 1500m and U/15 Alex Hayes finished 18th in the 400m. U/12 duo Mali Goggin and Shkyiah Upson also contested the 400m with a 13th and 21st placing respectively.

Region Track & Field

Seaford Little Athletics have celebrated a most successful Region Track & Field Championships with a bumper haul of 25 medals. The bag of medals consisted of 10 gold, 8 silver and 7 bronze from the 27 member team. Along with the medals, U/11 Elli Symonds added 2 pending Victorian Best Performances in Triple Jump and 60m Hurdles.

The race walkers from Seaford proved a powerhouse with 7 athletes earning a podium finish. U/9 Harli Lennon started the medal run for the Centre with a gold medal in the 700m girl’s event with teammate Patrick Staines taking silver in the boy’s event. 2 more medals were added to the team collection in the U/11 1100m races with Alannah Upson winning gold for the girl’s event and Aiden Smith walking his way to a bronze in the boy’s event. U/12 pair Emily Smith and Shannon Delaney proved too strong in their age group taking gold medals in the girls and boys events respectively. U/15 Alex Hayes closed out the successful walk events for Seaford with a silver medal in his age group’s 1500m walk.

In the field, U/9 Tessa Symonds dominated with a gold medal in the shot put hurling 6.82m to earn a resounding victory. Harli added a second gold medal to her collection with a tie for first place in the U/9 High Jump before adding a silver medal at Long Jump. U/15 Elyssia Tallon Rosas placed second to earn a silver medal at High Jump and then added a bronze medal for Triple Jump. U/11 Elli Symonds nabbed silver at the long jump and then added another gold medal to her collection on day 2 with a first place at Triple Jump and her second pending VBP for the meet. Bronze medals went to U/15 pair Justin Ott and Jacob Barry at triple jump and shot put respectively and U/9 Patrick at discus. Jacob Barry also scored a come from behind win at the Long Jump to score gold on his last jump in the final round. Justin added a second bronze on day 2 to his personal collection with a third place at Javelin. U/15 Maddison Staines secured a silver medal at shot put for her only appearance of the meet.

Back on the track, Elli Symonds won a gold medal at the 60m Hurdles in spectacular form equaling the Victorian Best Performance in a time of 9.81. The pending VBP is Elli’s second of the season after her Multi’s performance last month. Harli Lennon added a third gold to her collection when she won the 60m Hurdles for her age group on day 2.U/11 Ben Hayes added a bronze medal to the team tally with a strong finish in the 800m event and backed up with a silver in the 1500m the following day. U/14 Ethan Buchanan scored a silver medal in the 1500m also. For full results, see SEAFORD REGION RESULTS.

The celebrations continued at Seaford this week with the announcement of preliminary qualifications for the State Championships. Twenty of the Seaford athletes have qualified through to the State Championships to be held over the long weekend from 10-11th March at Lakeside Stadium.

Seaford’s relay teams finished with a haul of 1 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medals for their efforts. The Under 9 mixed team of Patrick Staines, James Bolt, Harli Lennon and Grace Mills booked an automatic qualification for the State Championships in December with their gold medal in the 4 x 200m event.

The senior boy’s teams celebrated their events with 4 medals. The U/15 team of Ethan Buchanan, Lachlan Smith, Jaycob Roberts and Justin Ott started the medal haul for the Seaford boys with a silver medal in the 4 x 200m event. Smith and Roberts then backed up their medals teaming with Alex Hayes and Ryley Stephenson to take bronze in the 14-15 Multi age medley. 2 more silvers were to come when Hayes, Stephenson, Buchanan and Ott combined in the U/15 4 x 100m event and the U/15 medley. 4 more teams finished with a final berth during the Championships.

State Championships saw three Seaford teams compete at Lakeside against the best from around the State. Congratulations to Harli Lennon, Annie Murphy, James Bolt, Patrick Staines, Lachlan Smith, Jaycob Roberts, Ethan Buchanan, Justin Ott, Alex Hayes and Ryley Stephenson on their efforts at the State Championships.

Victorian Junior Track & Field Championships

Seaford’s athletes continue to go from strength to strength with U/12 athlete Emily Smith taking Bronze at the Victorian Junior Track & Field Championships over the weekend. Smith contested the U/14 3000m race walk on Saturday at Lakeside and enjoyed a third placing in her debut at the Championships. Emily competed as a member of the Junior Development Squad.